Lernen von Ottawa? Perspektiven der humanitären Ächtung von Kernwaffen im 21. Jahrhundert

"Der nukleare Rüstungskontroll- und Abrüstungsprozess liegt seit Jahren brach. Doch eine humanitäre Initiative bemüht sich darum, einen globalen Diskurswechsel in der Kernwaffenfrage zu erzielen. Ein solcher Diskurswechsel, der der menschlichen Sicherheit gleiche Bedeutung zumisst wie der staatlichen Sicherheit, ging auch den erfolgreichen Kampagnen für das Verbot von Anti-Personenminen und Streumunition voraus. Die Autoren zeigen Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede der humanitären Initiative und den anderen Kampagnen auf. Sie loten die Erfolgschancen aus, inwieweit die Ächtung von Kernwaffen die Haltung der Atommächte und das nukleare Nichtverbreitungsregime beeinflussen kann." (Autorenreferat

High Density Lipoproteins Inhibit Oxidative Stress-Induced Prostate Cancer Cell Proliferation

Recent evidence suggests that oxidative stress can play a role in the pathogenesis and the progression of prostate cancer (PCa). Reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation is higher in PCa cells compared to normal prostate epithelial cells and this increase is proportional to the aggressiveness of the phenotype. Since high density lipoproteins (HDL) are known to exert antioxidant activities, their ability to reduce ROS levels and the consequent impact on cell proliferation was tested in normal and PCa cell lines. HDL significantly reduced basal and H2O2-induced oxidative stress in normal, androgen receptor (AR)-positive and AR-null PCa cell lines. AR, scavenger receptor BI and ATP binding cassette G1 transporter were not involved. In addition, HDL completely blunted H2O2-induced increase of cell proliferation, through their capacity to prevent the H2O2-induced shift of cell cycle distribution from G0/G1 towards G2/M phase. Synthetic HDL, made of the two main components of plasma-derived HDL (apoA-I and phosphatidylcholine) and which are under clinical development as anti-atherosclerotic agents, retained the ability of HDL to inhibit ROS production in PCa cells. Collectively, HDL antioxidant activity limits cell proliferation induced by ROS in AR-positive and AR-null PCa cell lines, thus supporting a possible role of HDL against PCa progression

A nuclear weapon-free zone in Europe: concept - problems - chances

"The nuclear weapon free-zone (NWFZ) concept has been explored thoroughly in the decades since its introduction, and several regions throughout the world have succeeded in the challenging task of establishing such a zone and thus promoting nuclear non-proliferation and peace. The 2010 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) called on all states to establish additional NWFZ in regions, where such zones do not exist. The possible establishment of a NWFZ in conflict areas where the threat of nuclear weapons is present, such as the Middle East or South Asia, has already been at the center of much diplomatic and research effort for some time. This study takes on a new challenge and explores the idea of establishing a NWFZ in the heart of Europe, a region least likely to be associated with this concept: three major European states (France, Russia and the UK) are official nuclear weapon states and an extra-regional nuclear weapon state (the US) is heavily present through its practice of nuclear sharing with its European NATO allies." (author's abstract)"Nuklearwaffenfreie Zonen (NWFZ) gelten seit einem halben Jahrhundert als etablierte Instrumente der Friedenssicherung und der nuklearen Nichtverbreitung. Die Überprüfungskonferenz 2010 des Atomwaffensperrvertrags (NPT) rief alle Staaten auf, weitere NWFZ in Regionen zu etablieren, in denen solche Zonen noch nicht existieren. Die mögliche Errichtung einer NWFZ in Konfliktgebieten, wie beispielsweise im Nahen Osten oder Südasien, steht dabei schon seit einiger Zeit im Zentrum diplomatischer Bemühungen sowie der Forschung. Diese Studie stellt sich einer neuen Herausforderung, indem sie sich mit der Idee beschäftigt, eine NWFZ im Herzen von Europa zu errichten; in einer Region, die wahrscheinlich am wenigsten mit diesem Konzept in Verbindung gebracht wird: Drei bedeutende europäische Staaten (Frankreich, Russland und Großbritannien) sind offizielle Kernwaffenstaaten und ein über-regionaler Kernwaffenstaat (die USA) stationiert taktische Nuklearwaffen auf dem Territorium einiger europäischer NATO-Verbündeten." (Autorenreferat

Towards Runtime Monitoring of Node.js and Its Application to the Internet of Things

In the last years Node.js has emerged as a framework particularly suitable for implementing lightweight IoT applications, thanks to its underlying asynchronous event-driven, non blocking I/O model. However, verifying the correctness of programs with asynchronous nested callbacks is quite difficult, and, hence, runtime monitoring can be a valuable support to tackle such a complex task. Runtime monitoring is a useful software verification technique that complements static analysis and testing, but has not been yet fully explored in the context of Internet of Things (IoT) systems. Trace expressions have been successfully employed for runtime monitoring in widespread multiagent system platforms. Recently, their expressive power has been extended to allow parametric specifications on data that can be captured and monitored only at runtime. Furthermore, they can be language and system agnostic, through the notion of event domain and type. This paper investigates the use of parametric trace expressions as a first step towards runtime monitoring of programs developed in Node.js and Node-RED, a flow-based IoT programming tool built on top of Node.js. Runtime verification of such systems is a task that mostly seems to have been overlooked so far in the literature. A prototype implementing the proposed system for Node.js, in order to dynamically check with trace expressions the correct usage of API functions, is presented. The tool exploits the dynamic analysis framework Jalangi for monitoring Node.js programs and allows detection of errors that would be difficult to catch with other techniques. Furthermore, it offers a simple REST interface which can be exploited for runtime verification of Node-RED components, and, more generally, IoT devices

Results obtained with level II oncoplastic surgery spanning 20 years of breast cancer treatment: Do we really need further demonstration of reliability?

Oncoplastic surgery (OPS) has demonstrated its superiority above traditional breast conserving surgery, but is still struggling to consolidate its role in breast cancer therapeutic protocols mainly because of contrasting scientific evidences and reduced follow-up results available. The objective of our contribution is to analyze results obtained with 381 patients consecutively treated in our Multidisciplinary Breast Center by means of level II OPS between January 1998 and January 2018 for unilateral, primary breast cancer. Surgical endpoints were mean specimen weight and volume, mean diameter of main lesion (MLD), rates of positive margins (PMR), re-excision (RR), conversion to mastectomy (CMR), complications (CR) and oncological endpoints as overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and local recurrence rate (LR). About 29.1% were treated for multifocal/multicentric disease, and 29.1% previously underwent neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). Regarding surgical techniques, 53.0% of patients received "inverted T" and 30.1% "J" mammoplasties, whereas 13.6% underwent "round block," 2.3% "Grisotti," and 1% "batwing" techniques. Regarding surgical outcomes, mean specimen weight was 215 g (50-2157) and volume 345 mm3 (21-7980). MLD 23 mm, PMR 7.6%, RR 3.6%, CMR 1.6%, and CR 5.8%. With a mean follow-up of 118 months, oncological outcomes were: OS 93.7%, DFS 82.3%, LR 4.4%. In conclusion, our analysis confirmed level II OPS reliability even for longer follow-up timing and in difficult situations as multifocal disease or after NACT

Osteochondroma as a cause of scapular winging in an adolescent: a case report and review of the literature

INTRODUCTION: Winged scapula is defined as the prominence of the medial border of the scapula. The classic etiopathology of scapular winging are injuries to the spinal accessory or long thoracic nerves resulting respectively in trapezius and serratus anterior palsy. To the best of our knowledge, there are only few reports of scapular lesions being mistaken for winging of the scapula. We report a rare case of a large scapular osteochondroma arising from the medial border and causing a pseudowinging of the scapula. CASE PRESENTATION: A 17-year-old Caucasian boy came to us complaining about a winged left scapula. The patient had a complete painless range of motion, but a large hard bony swelling was palpable along the medial border of his left scapula. A grating sensation was felt when his arm was passively abducted and/or elevated causing discomfort. A lesion revealed on X-rays was diagnosed as an osteochondroma of the medial border of his scapula. After preoperative examinations, he underwent open surgery in order to remove the lesion. A histological examination confirmed the clinical diagnosis of osteochondroma. A clinical examination 3 months later showed a full and painless range of motion, the absence of the grating sensation during passive abduction and elevation and the complete disappearance of his left shoulder deformity. After 2 years of follow-up, there were no clinical or radiological signs of recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Despite its rarity osteochondroma should be considered in the differential diagnosis for any adolescent presenting with a winging of the scapula

Skeletal muscle mass independently predicts peak oxygen consumption and ventilatory response during exercise in noncachectic patients with chronic heart failure

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